MSA President Clay Van Eaton and Vice President Emily Brockmann discuss their progress on goals set during their spring 2024 campaign and plans for the spring 2025 semester
On their campaign trail last spring, current Missouri Students Association President Clay Van Eaton and Vice President Emily Brockmann shared goals for their All in 4 Mizzou platform. After one semester in office, The Maneater checked in with the administration about their progress.
Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center renovations
In October, MSA provided funding to the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center to upgrade its audio and visual equipment, including speakers, ceiling microphones and a projector screen. The upgrades cost about $70,000 and the center raised $5,525.67 themselves.
Van Eaton said that he asked Mun Choi, UM System President and University of Missouri Chancellor, for help with covering the remaining costs. The university was able to provide $30,000 for the upgrades, he said.
While the center’s upgrades were not a goal Van Eaton and Brockmann had while campaigning, they worked to gather the funds after the issue was presented to them.
“While you’re campaigning, you only know so much,” Van Eaton said. “Once you actually get into the role, you’re really able to visualize where you can actually have the most effectiveness and where you can cause the most positive change.”
STRIPES
Another organization MSA did not campaign on but provided funds to is the STRIPES safe ride program. In October, a $50,000 budget increase was approved for the program.
“Due to the way that Uber for Business is set up, people were able to tip unlimited, or when there was surge pricing on Uber, that affected us in our budget,” Brockmann said.
Before the increase, students received two free Uber rides per month of any value. Now, students receive $12 per month for their rides.
According to Van Eaton, over 20% of MU students have active STRIPES accounts, which is significantly higher than the spring 2024 semester, when MSA cut the STRIPES budget in half due to low usage by students.
“We want to obviously conserve the longevity of the program, while also, at the same time, the current students here are the ones that are paying the student fees, so they’re the ones that should reap the benefits of said fees,” Van Eaton said.
Disability support
Modifications to classrooms, bathrooms and sidewalks and connecting students with disabilities to mentors were key points for All in 4 Mizzou’s “All in for Inclusivity” goal. To connect with disability groups on campus, MSA communicates with the Committee for Persons with Disabilities, which advocates for students with disabilities on campus.
Brockmann said that MU disability advocate groups did not present many concerns to MSA through the committee in the fall 2024 semester.
“We’re definitely in touch with all of them,” Brockmann said. “There hasn’t been a lot of communication because I think (first) semester has been really busy and hectic for everyone on campus, and honestly I don’t know if there’s been a ton of issues that they’ve really needed help or support with at this time.”
Disability support is still a goal for Van Eaton and Brockmann and they plan to work with MSA’s Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity team to accomplish more in that space in the spring 2025 semester, Van Eaton said.
Mental health awareness
The administration set goals to increase the MU Counseling Center’s hours and work with the Mizzou Student Suicide Prevention Coalition while campaigning last spring.
According to Jamie Shutter, the executive director of Student Health and Well-Being, she has not talked with MSA this year about increasing Counseling Center hours.
“The Counseling Center provides 24-hour crisis services. Students can walk in 8-5 Monday through Friday, or call the CC phone number 24 hours a day to speak to a licensed clinician” Shutter said. “If a student at any point is in crisis, the Counseling Center has services available.”
In November, MSA hosted its Mental Health Week, during which students painted in the Wellness Resource Center and played with puppies in Speakers Circle, among other events. Shutter said she and other Student Health and Well-Being staff worked with MSA to plan the week’s events.
“This year, the MSA students provided most of the great ideas,” Shutter said. “They present those ideas, and then we brainstorm how we can support those in any way that we can.”
MSA also met with the Wellness Resource Center regarding the Student Health and Well-Being Canvas page, which is available to all students and includes information on mental and physical health, wellness and resources on campus.
“Our health and wellness team, and then my chief of staff, did a deep dive and gave a ton of great recommendations, so those will be implemented,” Brockmann said.
Some of the changes include adding a map of the Student Health and Well-Being centers and a QR code to the Mental Health Resource Hub to the homepage, updates to the cannabis module to reflect current laws and research and a direct Engage link on the financial well-being course to free workshops and events on financial literacy.
During the last weeks of Van Eaton and Brockmann’s term, MSA plans to host a “39 Days of Resources” event.
“We’ll be highlighting 39 resources from across campus, so things like the Counseling Center, Wellness Resource Center, (and) STRIPES,” Brockmann said. “There’s also Aunt Flow, feminine hygiene product dispensers.”
Easing RSO creation
While campaigning last spring, Van Eaton and Brockmann expressed interest in working with the Organization Resource Group to make it easier to become a Registered Student Organization.
According to Brockmann, that has not been a strong point for MSA so far.
“I do understand they’re at their limits in ORG, and I think that’s something that we’ve really learned, that while they do what they do, it is important, and with all that they provide to organizations, it’s justified,” Brockmann said.
The current process to become a Registered Student Organization includes attending an information session, submitting an application and receiving approval from the Student Affairs Committee and Dean of Students. Organizations must also register annually to maintain recognition.
Sarah Hayes, president and founder of the Mizzou Poets Society, completed registration in November 2023 and said the process was reasonable.
“I felt like I understood the process pretty well, and I do think it has the right amount of bars, just because if you’re not as dedicated to starting a club, they might filter you out,” Hayes said. “I thought it was pretty informative. They make these meetings mandatory so that you know how to do it, and they always reach out to me every month with emails.”
Hayes said it would be nice if there were information channels for club leaders to find resources for their club easily.
“I usually have to outsource a lot of stuff for the club just because it’s hard to find material on campus that actually is affiliated with what I’m doing,” Hayes said. “A lot of the time, I don’t hear about projects or things happening, like reading events or stuff like that, until someone else who’s an English major tells me because I don’t get advertised those things.”
Emergency fund
During their campaign, Brockmann and Van Eaton met with former MSA President Miyah Jones and former MSA Vice President Cydney Perkins to discuss continuing the use of the student emergency fund, a financial aid application to help students meet essential expenses in unforeseen circumstances. They said while campaigning that they planned to continue using the fund.
MSA recently decided to discontinue the fund. According to Brockmann, the Rally Mizzou Scholarship from the Missouri Student Foundation is similar and MSA did not need to have a duplicate of it.
The Rally Mizzou Scholarship is funded by a weeklong fundraising event each spring and it rewards students up to $2,000 to help lower their tuition balance.
Syllabus bank
Currently, MSA is focusing on creating a syllabus bank, which is a database of class syllabuses that students can view before registering for classes. Van Eaton spoke to the MU Faculty Council about the syllabus bank on Dec. 5. During its meeting on Jan. 30, the council resolved that the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies should create the bank.
“That’s something that MSA has been talking about for years,” Van Eaton said. “I think what MSA was missing (and) why they weren’t getting it passed was finding the middle ground, because professors were somewhat worried about intellectual property, which is very understandable.”
The proposal protects intellectual property by letting professors choose if they want to make their syllabus available to view and requiring an MU login to view the bank.
Looking ahead
Van Eaton and Brockmann said they are looking forward to MSA’s projects for the spring 2025 semester, including the 39 Days of Resources and onboarding the next MSA administration.
“From the outreach and engagement standpoint, we’re really wanting to interact with more organizations,” Brockmann said. “I think pairing up for events (and) more philanthropy opportunities will be exciting to see.”
Edited by Maya Dawson | mdawson@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Caroline Sweet and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com